Social Security
So it appears a bill may be coming before Congress to reform Social Security without the personal accounts the President has been pushing for. Utah Sen. Bob Bennett has spoken to the President regarding his bill and hopes to bring it to the floor possibly as early as next week. The President is reported to have indicated Sen. Bennett should go forward with his legislation, although he still has not given up on personal accounts.
So does this mean a deal may be forthcoming? Can some kind of reform now be discussed between Democrats and Republicans to try to "fix" Social Security? I'll believe it when I see it.
Here is the problem, which I don't see either side compromising on. Liberals support the program because it is, in essence, a welfare or socialist program. Money is taken from those who earned it and redistributed to those who are no longer productive workers. This is also the reason conservatives have always hated it. Anything tinged by socialism is considered evil. Just see how they view the left leaning nations of Europe. In my opinion so what if Social Security is a welfare or socialist program. Most people make terrible choices when it comes to their money. I personally know a number of people under age 40 who haven't saved a dime for their retirement. If they lose their jobs today they wouldn't be able to live in their current home for more than a month because they live paycheck to paycheck. When these people become old and can't work anymore are we to just throw them to the dogs and let them die because they either couldn't save or made bad financial choices? I'd rather take a bit out of my paycheck every time so the elderly can keep some semblance of independence. These people have to pay their bills just like everyone else. I'd rather we helped them do that than shuffle them off to retirement homes or onto the streets.
I don't have any answers on how to fix the program. Nobody does or it would have been done years ago. The only thing we should do is encourage personal savings through more financial education. Most children go through high school and college never taking a personal finance class. Yet the nation is outraged to hear America has a zero savings rate and personal bankruptcies are at all time highs. How can we expect people to save enough for their retirement when most people don't know the difference between and IRA and a savings account? We need to have at least a semester class going over the basics as a requirement for getting a high school diploma. Only then may we start fixing many of the economic problems we have.
So does this mean a deal may be forthcoming? Can some kind of reform now be discussed between Democrats and Republicans to try to "fix" Social Security? I'll believe it when I see it.
Here is the problem, which I don't see either side compromising on. Liberals support the program because it is, in essence, a welfare or socialist program. Money is taken from those who earned it and redistributed to those who are no longer productive workers. This is also the reason conservatives have always hated it. Anything tinged by socialism is considered evil. Just see how they view the left leaning nations of Europe. In my opinion so what if Social Security is a welfare or socialist program. Most people make terrible choices when it comes to their money. I personally know a number of people under age 40 who haven't saved a dime for their retirement. If they lose their jobs today they wouldn't be able to live in their current home for more than a month because they live paycheck to paycheck. When these people become old and can't work anymore are we to just throw them to the dogs and let them die because they either couldn't save or made bad financial choices? I'd rather take a bit out of my paycheck every time so the elderly can keep some semblance of independence. These people have to pay their bills just like everyone else. I'd rather we helped them do that than shuffle them off to retirement homes or onto the streets.
I don't have any answers on how to fix the program. Nobody does or it would have been done years ago. The only thing we should do is encourage personal savings through more financial education. Most children go through high school and college never taking a personal finance class. Yet the nation is outraged to hear America has a zero savings rate and personal bankruptcies are at all time highs. How can we expect people to save enough for their retirement when most people don't know the difference between and IRA and a savings account? We need to have at least a semester class going over the basics as a requirement for getting a high school diploma. Only then may we start fixing many of the economic problems we have.
posted by Jdeer76 at
10:17 AM
2 Comments:
Damn. I was hoping you'd have the answer.
I think one thing most of the current generation of conservatives forget is that poor people and old people don't just disappear. We have a much weaker family support system in this country right now than at any other point in our history. Without some kind of social safety net, things would degenerate quickly. Social unrest would be right on it's heels.
Don't even get me started on individual accounts. Every market bust in the last century has proven that there are far more people who are stupid with their money than are smart...and even the smart ones start believing their own hype, and lose out. If this takes hold, what happens the next time the public latches onto the market as a way to get rich quick, and it busts? Instead of the downturns of the 70's, 80's and 90's, we'd be more likely to have another Great Depression.
By
Anonymous, at 5:41 PM
The private accounts may have had a good chance of passing in the 90's stock market bubble. But after seeing people lose their life savings in the market after the Bubble burst its unlikely this will get much traction with the public.
I think its more of conservatives trying to kill a program they've always hated. They can't run on the "I want to kill Social Security" platform so they claim to "trust people to invest their own money." Most people need some form of retirement income they can't screw up themselves.
By
Jdeer76, at 5:55 PM
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